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Antique Revival supports food bank

Antique Revival co-owner Mike Watts, right, offers his opinion on an antique cup brought in by a resident Sunday during a charity appraisal event at the antique business in Big Flats.(Photo: JEFF MURRAY / STAFF PHOTO)Buy Photo

BIG FLATS – From an old wooden shovel to dusty drinking cups, silverware to furniture pieces, residents brought all kinds of relics to Big Flats on Sunday for a good cause.

The occasion was the sixth annual charity appraisal event hosted by Antique Revival, just off Interstate 86 on Palmer Road.

For a $5 donation, Antique Revival co-owner and certified appraiser Mike Watts tried to give residents information about the background and history of antiques they brought in, along with an estimated value.

"Mike does appraisals for people at the Olde Tyme Summer Festival. We started doing it here," said Antique Revival co-owner Vicki Rachel. "This is a good time of year for it. We get to see what people bring in. They get to know the history. He does research for them, what it is and what its value is. People have family pieces they are interested in finding out about.

"Sometimes people are downsizing and they want information on what they can get when they sell a piece," Rachel said. "It's for a good cause. There are a lot of people who need the food bank now. Last year we raised $600. We usually get about 100 people who come through."

Some of the more interesting items brought in for appraisal Sunday included a 1920's Buddy L pressed steel toy truck, a small Gilt bronze embossed German singing bird in a cage from the 1880s, and a golden brown Steiff Teddy Bear from the early 1800s in mint condition.

Sunday's event raised $750 for the food bank, Rachel said.

Among Sunday's visitors was Herschel Burt, of Gillett, who showed up with an old wooden shovel that had artwork painted on the blade.

Burt wasn't interested in selling the piece — unless it turned out to have significant value — but he was curious about its story.

"I've got this old shovel and it's been in the family for years. My mother got it from an aunt. She said it was used for shoveling flour or sugar on the railroad," Burt said. "It's just been sitting around. This is for my own curiosity. I can't believe it was used to work with. I think it must have been decorative."